Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of H.R. 4389, the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023.

Bird populations have declined by over 3 million since 1970, and the iconic birds that we know and love must be actively protected.

Birds like the Baltimore oriole, wood stork, great blue heron, and snowy egret are not just beautiful to look at, they are vital to our environment and our economy.

Many of the migratory birds we see at home spend their winter months in Latin America and the Caribbean, but they are threatened by habitat loss along their journey back and forth. Federal efforts like H.R. 4389 are key to conserving these species.

My bill reauthorizes and improves the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Grant program. These government programs provide competitive grants for them to find refuge along the way, and, thankfully, they are matched 2 to 1 by private-sector investments who also care about the environment. The good news is that they pay major dividends.

Over the last two decades, almost $90 million invested by the United States in bird conservation produced almost $350 million from other countries who were partners in the Western Hemisphere.

Since 2002, these programs have supported 700 projects across dozens of Latin American countries, benefiting more than 5 million acres of habitat.

Protecting these beautiful birds is also highly important for my constituents in the city of Miami. The Florida Everglades serves as a critical natural habitat for birds migrating and is one of the top bird-watching spots in the country, including for ibis, egrets, and herons.

In 2022, more than 96 million people across this country participated in bird-watching, generating more than $100 billion in economic benefits for the country. If we protect these migratory birds, we are protecting the Everglades and we are protecting the ecosystem. If we are the ecosystem, we are bolstering our economy. It is a clear bipartisan win for everybody.

I thank Chairman Bruce Westerman, Congressman Rick Larsen, Congressman David Joyce, and Congresswoman Mary Peltola for co-leading this bill with me.

As a champion of animal welfare and strong protector of the Everglades, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4389.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I really do commend the sponsor of the bill. As she noted, this bill is supported on a bipartisan basis by some of our most illustrious colleagues. I remember this bill when it was introduced last session as well, and the work that Representative Salazar and Ranking Member Larsen have done on this bill is commendable.

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